Socrates' Path
by Shadow's Life
Summary: Bartimaeus is back...and so is Nathaniel. However, all is not as it seems, and not everything is the way one would think! Added to this the mystery of a long dead philosopher, one of the most enigmatic figures of history. What has he to do with these 3?
1. Chapter 1

Kitty stared unseeingly out of the window of the train; the endless desert vista of bleached sand met the intensely blue sky at a horizon that seemed impossibly far away. Her long dark hair was braided soberly back, and she wore a light, trim top with canvas shorts. The entire car, it seemed, was completely empty, but Kitty knew better than to assume that she was unobserved; she sighed, and glanced up at the corner of the ceiling, apparently at thin air. But her eyes, enhanced as no other human's eyes were by ... past experiences ... could instantly pick out two small, ugly creatures floated, leering at her. A long umbilical cord connected to each snaked out of the wall. Imps.

After all that had happened, it was not safe for her anywhere unless armored magicians protected her wherever she went. Even now, she knew, two of them would be keeping a close watch on the scrying disks connected to the imps in the car. She disliked the necessity of their presence, but could do nothing about it. She needed protection, and she needed it badly.

She sighed again, looking back out the window. Typical irony. Once, she had wanted nothing more than to protect: to protect Jacob, to protect her friends in the Resistance, to protect them all. Now, when they were all far away from her, she was the one being protected. All because of those two...

No matter what she started with, every train of thought eventually reached them. Bartimaeus and Nathaniel had, even during their life, occupied much of her mind. Now that they were gone, their memories claimed all of it.

_Bartimaeus...you died here, away from home. Why did that happen? Why? To save our world? To save Ptolemy's world? Or to save my world? All I did was come to your home. I thought that was a huge deal at the time. Now, I'm not so sure._ He had given up everything, because of a gesture. She had lost her youth, true enough, but not her life. He had lost his right to an eternal bliss.

Nathaniel was gone, too. That meant something starnge to her. He had not played much part in her life before he was a magician, so she had hated him as a magician. But she couldn't help feeling that, if they had met differently, their relationship would have been a very different one. His loss created a hole in a part of her life she previously didn't know existed. Why, she had no clue, but it did. The memory of his smooth, masklike, adult face, dissolving into innocent wonder as he looked at her when she woke up, called up strange emotions in her. Foremost among them was an overwhelming sense of loss.

_I wonder..._

Nathaniel was able to sense many things around him -- many, many things. A swirling tumult of ... something, everything, nothing, to which he was melded, it seemed, seamlessly. He was part of it, all of it, noe of it...confusing, but he could think of no other way to express it. It troubled him, that this experience escaped definition in his mind...or consciousness...or whatever it was. However, he found that if he allowed himself to relax into the rhythm of the flow, the decentralized consciousness, was, in a way, oddly comforting and wholesome.

_You're taking it a lot better than the other ones._

Nathaniel jerked back to attention. The feeling was not pleasant. _Who is that?_

_Who's that, he says. Maybe he isn't as smart as we thought. _A snicker floated to him._ Haven't you figured it out yet, kid?i am you, and you are me. We are all one._

_All one?_

_All one. You exist, yet you do not exist. Same for me. Everything is nothing, nothing is something, something is everything._

Where had he heard that before? He remembered something like that from his early days of schooling, far back, when he used to nod off over tomes of Greek and Coptic in a huge library...

Why was it so difficult to concentrate? Suddenly, the comforting flow around him seemed a menace, an impairment. He tried his best to concentrate...and failed miserably.

_Done yet?_

_Bartimaeus?_

_You knew it was me._

_How did I? I don't know._

_Magicians...can't see the forest for the trees. Ask something more sensible, why can't you?_

Nathaniel thought for a moment, and had to agree. _So what exactly is this place?_

There was a long pause. _Bartimaeus?_

_Ah, no voice of authority. I conclude you have learned something from here._

_Answer me!_

There _it is. I was wondering... anyway, onwards. I welcome you, Nat, to the Other Place._


	2. Chapter 2: Bartimaeus

I couldn't believe it. After possessing him, helping him, killing with him, being dismissed by him, believing him done for, dead, gone kaput, here he was, talking to me, in the one place I was sure he couldn't come.

Goes to show, sometimes no matter what you do...

At least he wasn't Mandrake in here. I didn't mind Nat so much, twerpy as he could be. Mandrake was no equal of mine, although I was always under his thumb. At least Nathaniel was closer to my level.1

_This is the Other Place?_

_I thought I just said that._

He ignored me. _Well, then. Now I know that you demons have been lying to us for centuries about here. I don't see any of the horrific images you described around me._

_Why would we not have? Do you think we wanted our haven laid bare for you hungry magicians to devour? You can imagine how that would have worked. _I hesitated, then added, _The only accurate description that any of you managed to pry from us was burned before anyone could read it._

That shut him up, at least for a minute. Then,_ do you think we could talk?_

_We are talking._

_I mean, actually see each other and talk._

_I was expecting that. _Much sooner than it came, in fact. He was much more comfortable, it seemed, than either Kitty or Ptolemy had been, with letting his essence flow with the others. I quickly formed a scene for us, the same garden that I met Kitty in. I wasn't feeling much like overexertion or creativity right then. Forming myself a body quickly -- Ptolemy? no, Kitty -- I stepped into the scene, landing gracefully on the grass. As expected, in front of me was a puddle of what looked like dishwater.

_Pull yourself together, kid. I'm not talking to a puddle._

_All right, all right. But how?_

_Concentrate on the shape you want._

It took a few moments of figuring out my instructions, but he was finally able to construct a vague humanoid. Extremely blocky, but a good first try.

A very good first try. Kitty's first was a ball, and Ptolemy's a rocky mound.

_Enoyugh for you?_

_Not really. You'll have to practice._

_I don't have the time to. I have to get back, don't I?_

_Where to, Nat? _He was taking things in a bit slowly. _You have no body to return to, remember? You were destroyed in there, and hell if I know how, but your essence got into the Other Place and has been here ever since._

_What are you saying, Bartimaeus?_

_Not to put too fine a point on it, _Nat, _you are now a demon._

_What_?2

I sighed._Your essence resides primarily in the Other Place, as you no longer have a permanent form in your world. This means that with your true name, you can be summoned into the world by magicians. In short, you are what your kind call _demons.

Evidently, he found this a bit hard to digest. I suppose I would have, if I had been in his shoes. 3

Finally, _so what happens_ _now?_

_Not much, I guess. Since both you and I are believed dead, neither of us is going to be summoned anywhere. Welcome to your life for the rest of eternity, kid._

_The rest of eternity._

_Yep._

_Bullshit._

I was getting impatient. _Okay, I know you're a bit disoriented, but this is too much! Just how do you expect to get out of here?_

_Same way as you are right now._

_What? _I cursed myself silently for not paying more attention. Sure enough, I could feel my essence being tugged away, and the slender form of Kitty disolving. _Who on earth --_

_Your turn to think, Bartimaeus. Who on earth would know to try and summon you one last time, berfore giving you up for dead? Who on earth is that stubbornly foolish? Come on now ..._

_Give it up, kid. It couldn't be._

The blocky humanoid had a face now; it even had a faint resemblance to the masklike face that his old self used to own. The mouth grinned hugely, causing it to ecome lopsided. _She's a magician now, Bartimaeus. And she learned magic after growing up fighting magicians. She'll be standing here, maybe even in the same pentancle. Better take off that form, she might be offended. Oh, and tell her to summon me too. We have a bit of a chat to make up._

I had thought, just for one teensy little second, that I didn't hate this kid. My mistake entirely. Shifting rapidly to Ptolemy' form, I opened my eyes quickly.

* * *

The scene that met me was familiar, yet achingly different. I stood at Alexandria, smack dab in the middle of a temple. 

The temple where Ptolemy had dismissed me.

However, it wasn't Ptolemy's face that I saw opposite me. A lined, aged face greeted my questing eyes; one skeletal hand played with long black hair heavily streaked with grey. The eyes, though surrounded by crow's feet, seemed to burn with an inextinguishable fire, even on the first plane; yet they were nothing compared to the beautiful aura that surounded them on the other planes, with increasing gradients of intensity the higher the plane, and most brilliant on the seventh. Though it had faded since I had last seen her, it was still far greater, far more beautiful, than the aura of any other human. Kitty Jones sat opposite me, looking at me with an unreadable expression, on the other side of a large pentancle.

Dammit, the kid was right on. I glared at the floor moodily.

"Hello, Bartimaeus."

* * *

1 If only marginally. And a very slender margin, at that. 

2 He was being unusually dense. I've had my differences with this kid, and I'm not making _any_ explanations for him, but if nothing else, he was a sharp cookie.

3 Then again, maybe not. I'm not a power-hungry, egomaniacal, and unfortunately brilliant control freak -- in other words, a born,bred, dyed-in-the-wool magician -- after all.


	3. Chapter 3: Kitty

Kitty watched the slim figure in front of her glare moodily at the stone floor, as if trying to burn a hole in it. Before he had a chance to, she spoke again.

"So."

"So what?"

"Nice to see you again."

"I can't say I agree."

"I suppose, then I owe this great pleasure to Mandrake?"

"Not Mandrake. Nathaniel."

"Of course." She paused, waiting for him to speak. She was almost convinced that he would not, when he did.

"How did you find out?"

"A suspicion, I suppose..."

"You weren't in the least surprised when I popped out here."

"I used a few sources. You have many friends."

"And that's why they were all so eager to catch up in the past few weeks. Am I right?"

Kitty smiled. "Couldn't be more."

Bartimaeus looked her full in the eye, throwing her off guard for just a second. "What right have you to call me back here? I have done with this world, completely and utterly. The only reason I do not strike you down right now is because of your act of coming over. You have destroyed entirely my chance of eternal paradise, a chance that was all the more deserved for my plight in this world. Do not assume me thankful for this, Kitty."

"Tell me something, Bartimaeus. What do you think of this meeting?"

She had him; his eyes were confused. "To tell you the truth, I had no idea. I thought you wanted to confirm my existence, but after that, I suppose I assumed you wanted to use me."

Kitty's eyes softened as she looked at him. "Bartimaeus. You need not worry. This is nothing more than a farewell, and was only ever meant to be so. Your time in the Other Place is, as you say, well-earned. Just... I thought we might have a bit of a chat before the farewell-forever scene."

She watched him apprehensively as he absently dissolved his own hand into fine mist, then solidified it again, watching the action with unreadable black eyes. Finally, a grumpy snort emanated, and she sighed with relief. "Good, you're not mad."

"Not really, no. But seeing as we're having this little farewell chat in the first place, I thought that inviting the twerp might be a good idea. Then we can call it all over and done with. no fuss."

Instantly, Kitty was wary. "Your meaning is...?"

"The twerp. Nat. He's in the Other Place. Asked me to tell you. I wouldn't have, but seeing as how he thinks you're _beautiful_ and all, I can't really let him down, can I?" The crafty look in Bartimaeus' eyes, although it would have once annoyed her, did nothing right now but to make her even more elated than she was.

"He's...not dead?" The knowledge brought a feeling of ecstasy to her entire being, and she glowed with a feeling of dizzy delight.

"I just said that he was in the Other Place. No, that doesn't qualify as being dead. Why are both of you so slow these days?"

"I have no idea... I'll summon him quickly." she paused. "What type is he?"

No answer. She grew impatient. "I said, what type is he?"

Bartimaeus shuffled discontntedly around for a few moments, then grumbled almost inintelligibly, "A djinni."

Momentarily taken aback, she said nothing for a moment. Then, "Of what level?"

Bartimaeeus seemed to have gone deaf for a few moments, but just as she was about to repeat her question at a shout, out came a low growl that, after a few moments, Kitty deciphered as, "fifteen."

"Fifteenth level?" she lookedat Bartimaeus amusedly, understanding now his temper. "Heh. No wonder you're so annoyed. I bet you thought he wouldn't even make foliot, didn't you?"

"Shut up and get him here. Or isn't the pentancle strong enough to deal with him?"

"No, it's strong enough for a marid. " She paused. "I'm used to drawing pentancle for strong beings now. I don't weaken them because a de--a spirit is of lower level than the pentancle is capable of holding. The habit comes in handy, when I meet spirits less ... friendly, shall we say? -- than you."

"What do you mean?"

"The records have been heavily sabotaged. Not recently," she added, looking at Bartimaeus' raised eyebrow, "I know it happens, because I was a friend of one person who contributed to it." Without elaborating, she began to chant in a low murmur, speaking quickly, yet carefully enunciating each word. Within moments, a small puddle was lying on the ground.

"Clearly, you haven't gained control of transformation yet." Kitty stepped back, a grin on her face.

The puddle slowly changed form unevenly, changing eventually into a tall, thin humanoid form, with a rather flat face and thick, spaghetti strands of hair.

"It's harder to keep the form when you shift worlds."

"Aren't you a regular pretty boy. Been practising?" Bartimaeus let out a snide chuckle.

The humanoid tried to roll his eyes; it was almost perfect, only one eye slid slightly down. It was immediately put up again. "Sure I have, Barty."

"What was that you just called me?"

"Can't you hear? I called you Barty."

"Wow, you're a regular genius. Can't even use a full name for someone of such prestige as myself."

"Shut up, Bartimaeus, don't take advantage of him like that."

'What?" Nathaniel turned to look at Kitty, his eyes focusing after some difficulty.

"You don't know what level you are, do you?"

"I was meaning to ask you. If you knew how to summon me, then you would know, right? Unless you used something generically powerful...but then, you could have just asked Bartimaeus, right?"

"Are you going to let me tell you or not?"

"Alright, alright."

Kitty's lips twitched slightly. "You're a djinni. Fifteenth level."

The humanoid's pasty eyebrows rose, hovering dangerously close to its hair. "Fifteenth level..." suddenly, the lips moved, arranging themselves into something resembling a smirk. "Well, well. This has got to be a little embarassing for you, _Barty_."

Bartimaeus harrumphed, looking grumpily out beyond the crumbling pillars. The view seemed to disconcert him, and he turned back. "Yeah, so? At least I can keep my nose on while smiling. I'm not as pathetic as you, Natty boy, whatever level you may be."

A thought occurred to Kitty. "Hey Bartimaeus. While I was in the Other Place, what level was I?"

Bartimaeus's brow creased, and he paused a moment before replying. "I know you were a djinni, but of what exact level I can't really remember. I know for sure that you were around my level -- not some lower level upstart -- but above or below, I couldn't tell."

"Okay, not too specific, but it works, I suppose."

"Alright, then. To business." The humanoid turned to Kitty. "So why'd you call us here? First things first, how'd you even know Bartimaeus was still alive?"

"I found out Bartimaeus was alive through some friends of his. I called you two here because -- well, because --" she seemed to have difficulty getting the words out all of a sudden. "Well, I was going to say goodbye. To Bartimaeus, at least. But now you're alive too, so I guess ... I guess that means that the goodbye's extended to you, too." That's all that's happened, she told herself. I'm just saying goodbye to two instead of one.

"Goodbye? So ... never again?"

"Well, probably not never again. I'll probably cross over when I get too old to go on, I'll start missing the Other Place too much. Assuming, Bartimaeus, that you'll still call me over, that is."

"Wouldn't dream of not." The words were light, but they had an odd note to them, something flat.

Bartimaeus snorted. "Once a human, always a human, I say. Idiots. Why you act the way you do still escapes me."

Both started slightly, turning to look at him. He merely rolled his eyes again, making Kitty smile.

"So then, I guess it's goodbye." Kitty's voice was flat and abrupt.

"I guess it is." Nathaniel smiled uncertainly; his expressions were improved, even in the short time he had been in the pentancle.

"Wait." Bartimaeus's tone was sharp and unexpected.

"What?"

"Hold still, Kitty. Close your eyes."

Kitty's expression was quizzical, but she knew better than to get Bartimaeus to explain himself; his mood would only worsen. "Alright." She took a deep breath, relaxing all her muscles and closing her eyes.

Bartimaeus melted, slowly, becoming a trail of vapor. "Wish me luck, Nat." The thin trail whizzed into Kitty's ear.

"What in the name of Solomon are you doing?" Nathaniel's voice was not much panicked; he had, after all, experienced the same thing firsthand.

No reply came, but Nathaniel's question was answered anyway. The form in front of him, though it had just been frail and old, was rapidly gaining weight --then, apruptly, it stopped filling out, and the face began to lose its wrinkles, smoothing over and gaining colour -- then the hair began to rapidly regrow, grey strands falling out and lustrous brown ones taking their place -- until, finally, the old woman in front of him had transformed into a young lady of about nineteen years. A trail of thin vapour leaked out of her ear, and her eyes snapped open.

"Show me what you did to my body, djinni."

"After all I did! I'm hurt." Bartimaeus morphed into a burnished silver mirror, hovering in front of her. Kitty's eyes widened. "Bartimaeus, I --"

"Don't thank me, you witch. Just get a life, why don't you? Don't go mooning after people that ought to be dead all the time."

Kitty glanced sharply at Nathaniel, and their eyes locked. "I think I'll take that advice..." Quickly murmuring the Dismissal, she grinned wickedly at the two as they disappeared. "...maybe."

She woke abruptly at midnight, her multihued eyes sparkling sharply in the bright monnlight through the wisps of her newly grown brown locks. Walking purposefully from the soft blanket she had been sleeping on to the center of the pentancle she had drawn earlier that day, she murmured a long string of Latin; in moments, a form appeared before her. Straightening, the tall form of Nathaniel stood, and his clear grey eyes looked down at her from his thin, chiselled face.

"So you have been practising."

The face smiled. "Bartimaeus isn't wrong about much."

It was time they had a real talk.


End file.
